Somewhere Out There
by QuixoticQuest
Summary: Super AU. Obi-Wan is an orphan living in the lowest level of Coruscant and he's living a life raiding the storages of the Republic -that is until the Jedi intervene and he meets his master and sets forth to become the Jedi he was always meant to be...
1. Intro and Disclaimer

Hey Everyone, Don here!

So this story is a bit of a change-up of what I usually write (it's still AU) but it's classic SW with many twists, and a whole lot of adventure, yay!!!

For those of you who are new to my writing, here's a bit about me:

I'm mainly an SW writer (though recently I branched to writing Young Wizards fan fiction as well) and I got onto FFN because I was disappointed with the outcome of the NJO books and I wanted to read/write revival/AU stories about that.

I'm a huge fan of Anakin Solo and Tahiri Veila, and of the classic characters Obi-Wan is one of my ultimate favorites (besides Yoda and DV). I've been bouncing around ideas for different fan fics for a while, and this is my first classic piece that's not a parody.

See my profile for the parodies and more information about me as a writer.

So basically here's what to expect from this story:

This is a series that I'm pretty much making up from scratch about Obi-Wan as a child and his life as a young Jedi- it'll probably go all the way to the end of his life so be prepared for a long series. Oh, and there's romance too- read to find out.

That means of course that I'm including Qui-Gon and all the gang too. Although I'm pairing Obi-Wan with an OC and this story is going to be linked back to my "Namesake" trilogy. If you haven't read it, it's a fun read based on the New Jedi Order books. It'll also be have a focus on Obi-Wan and his apprentice/Master relationship with Qui-Gon, and then the rest is just whatever I decide to make it.

Ahem, this series is due to begin next week when I go on Winter Break from my college work (currently one of my other series is giving me serious writer's block so it's on Hiatus) and I'm working on getting further in the third part of the "Namesake" trilogy so that's a factor in my postponing the first chapter.

It'll be up in a week so keep checking.

DISCLAIMER: I do not and probably never will own Star Wars or any of its characters. Credit to Lucas and his team- plus all the book writers.

Have a great rest of the week and may the force be with you all!!

-Don =)


	2. Vigor

**Chapter 1**

**Vigor**

_A/N- Hey Al!! I got this up earlier than I thought I would!! _

_This is new territory, so let me know if there's something you think I should add/change/subtract. _

_I know the buildup is slow, but it gets more into the actual story/conflict soon enough. Also I'm basing this AU around the idea that it's the prequel (in some ways) to my "Namesake: series. You'll see in this chapter how some of the dots will connect. I'm excited to post this for you all because I really just love making up back-story and history for characters (even if it's AU). _

_Please enjoy and don't forget to review!_

_Thanks, _

_-Don ^_^_

* * *

Bitterness. If anyone knew what that word meant, it was the thin faced young boy with fiery golden brown eyes hidden beneath his brown hair streaked with red. Nothing in the bottom levels of Coruscant treated its inhabitants kindly. Though it certainly taught them how to survive on literally nothing more than grit and determination not to be the next victim of a raid by the republic officers and kept them from giving up when their necks and backs were up against the walls of existence.

He lifted his eyes as yet another person passed by him without so much as a glance backwards. Despite his initial bitterness, this boy, a little older than six, was able to live his life in the underground without lashing out or hating anyone for his current situation. Mainly because he couldn't blame anyone for it, after all, he was the one who left his home planet for a new life. His parents were nowhere to be found. He'd raised himself and taught himself all the lessons he knew. At the least, he figured his parents were dead. Or they were captured and enslaved somewhere in the galaxy. Wherever they were, their abandonment left the boy on the streets, known to himself and a few other underworlders, as Obi-Wan Kenobi, to fend for himself and to become a master of his surroundings. He could sense others as they approached, he could feel certain events before they happened, and most of all, he gained confidence from an inner feeling that not even Obi-Wan could place.

A foot prodded Obi-Wan in the side. "Hey, Obi," He jerked his head around and faced the other small and young member of the underworld of Coruscant. Jarris Fierler was five years older than Obi-Wan, but had no more authority or control over the younger boy than the Republic soldiers, which was no control whatsoever.

"We're going on a raid, you coming?" Jarris cocked his dark haired head to look at Obi-Wan with cool blue eyes.

"What, you can't do it alone?" Obi-Wan questioned calmly, picking himself off the ground. Jarris scowled.

"Don't get ahead of yourself, Kenobi," Jarris snapped, "Just because you managed to hit the last two with success-"

"Last ten," Obi-Wan corrected. Jarris frowned more deeply.

"Whatever, you coming or what?"

Obi-Wan cast a glance up at the sky where hundreds of air speeders and ships cruised through the deep blue sky around the glowing buildings. He'd never been anywhere close to there. Though he had tried to go up there, no soldier would let a scrawny half starved boy from the underworld into the world of the sophisticated citizens of the galaxy.

"I'll come, keep your shirt on," Obi-Wan replied coolly and then followed Jarris through the winding streets until they reached a small rickety old building and entered. The group of teens already in the building glanced up and nodded at Obi-Wan and Jarris.

"We were wondering if you were up for another raid, Kenobi," One of the teens said, his eyes glinted, "After you almost botched the last one."

Obi-Wan remained impassive, "I hesitated because I knew that the officers were coming."

"Yeah," Another one of the teens put in, "That's what we don't get. How the stars do you know they were going to come?"

Obi-Wan shifted his hand to his belt without making too much movement. "If you wanted to find out, you could have stayed. But I'm not one to disobey my instincts." He quickly grasped his blaster hilt and waited for a reaction. It would take an idiot not to sense the tense atmosphere in the small building. All eyes were on the first teen and Obi-Wan.

"As if they could do anything," The teen said, "It'd take Jedi to actually make me afraid." He smiled in a cocky way, "Even they're not enough to do that."

Obi-Wan had to laugh at that. "Jedi would kill you before you could even think they were in the same room."

The lead teen chuckled hollowly, "Kenobi, you've got more confidence in the Jedi than you do in your own comrades."

Obi-Wan, who had been tightening his grip on his blaster turned his head to face the head teen, whose short stubble, messy and greasy gray blonde hair fell in disarray.

"Ashkan, you'd be dead before you were afraid," Obi-Wan stated without flinching at the leader's clear insult. Obi-Wan knew better than to react to anything Ashkan said or did.

"Enough, what do you think, Koonjir?" Another teen asked. Obi-Wan turned to look at the more reasonable member of the teen group of thieves and scoundrels. The one who had spoken had rough blonde hair and eyes that could stare down any enemy. Obi-Wan appreciated Birk for speaking up. Ashkan could be bull-headedly stupid.

"We should go," Koonjir replied curtly, his eyes going over to Birk then to Obi-Wan. Koonjir was a red eyed Chiss with more connections to higher places than anyone in the group, but he preferred the exciting life of crime to anything his family had to offer. Obi-Wan would take that life first offer he got, but the chances of that were slim.

"Then go we shall," The rodian in the back growled. Obi-Wan looked at the rodian briefly before resting his eyes on Ashkan.

"Ash?" Birk said, elbowing the leader. He grunted.

"Let's go and get this damn thing over with. Mark my words, Kenobi, if I hear so much as a peep out of you about anyone interrupting, I'm shooting you myself."

Obi-Wan once again didn't flinch. He simply ran his fingers over the rough gridded texture of his blaster and then looked over at Birk, who wasn't too much older than he was.

"If Ash fires, I'll be the first to off him," Birk whispered so only Obi-Wan could hear. The younger boy smiled.

"You won't need to, Kirk. I don't think anyone but us knows about this mission."

"All the same, we all know Ash is losing his touch," Birk replied, his bluish purple eyes flared. Obi-Wan laid his hand on his friend's arm.

"Easy, Birk. If you rush into the fray you won't live long enough to see your kids grow up."

Birk snorted, "Kids? Nobody in the Dekim family wants kids, why do you think I' m alone, eh?" He thumped Obi-Wan on the shoulder for the comment.

A cool smile crossed Obi-Wan's features. "You'd be surprised." Obi-Wan left it at that and moved over to where the others were putting on blaster resistant vests stolen from the Republic storage depots. Obi-Wan buckled his on then turned his head to look up at the sky. It always looked the same. A deep and almost saddening blue that stretched for miles and captured brightly dotted stars.

Obi-Wan faced Birk. Something told Obi-Wan that their fate was about to change. That the sky wouldn't look the same after this mission and possibly Obi-Wan thought, not without some pain, he'd never see the sky from this angle again.

Maybe it had something to do with the nightmare he'd been having for many nights in a row. He had seen this person, a young boy in the desert, and two other people there, one that looked like he could have been an older Obi-Wan, and the other was someone that Obi-Wan felt he should have known, but didn't. Then the dream changed from the desert to a place with fire and the boy from before was older and the look alike to Obi-Wan was fighting him. The younger man had anger in his eyes and Obi-Wan's look alike was in pain over the battle. Finally the younger man fell into the lava below, and Obi-Wan left with a sense of betrayal of loss in his heart. Without even knowing why, Obi-Wan had woken up that morning and every morning after that day, with the following words ringing in his head,

"_You were supposed to be the chosen one! You were my brother!" _

"Hey, Obi," Jaris broke Obi-Wan's reverie. Not breaking to note that Obi-Wan's face indicated he really wasn't listening to what Jarris was saying, Jarris continued, "What's with the conspiratorial whispering with Birk? You know that if you get to close to him, he'll just drag you into more trouble with Ashkan."

Obi-Wan recollected himself enough to answer, "Ashkan can get into trouble without mine or Birk's help," Obi-Wan then strode over to the subject of the conversation, leaving Jaris more than a little confused as well as irritated.

"You look a little pale, Obi," Birk observed, "You alright?"

Obi-Wan ran a hand over his forehead, as though hoping it would rid him of the visions he kept having. "If I were to say no, would you believe me?" Obi-Wan asked. Birk shrugged.

"Not any of my business really if you want to lie, Obi," Birk lowered his voice, "But if you do want to tell me about it, I won't break a bond with you and tell anyone about it."

Obi-Wan's mouth curled into a grateful smile. "I appreciate it, Birk. Maybe after the mission I'll tell you. His eyes narrowed in no particular direction, "Just not now."

Birk cast a glance over his shoulder as if sensing what Obi-Wan was worried about. Sure enough, Jarris was more attentively watching the two as they talked. "Remind me later," Birk said before stepping off the other side of the group now filing out of the building. Obi-Wan shot Birk a warning glance. It was only now that Obi-Wan got another one of his feelings, the ones he got when a mission was about to be thrown into jeopardy.

Obi-Wan wasn't entirely sure where these feelings came from or why he got them. They were just as disorienting as the visions he'd been having for a long time of himself and another man that Obi-Wan was completely sure he didn't know. For that matter Obi-Wan didn't know very many other people aside from the members of his raid group.

Obi-Wan could only hope things wouldn't get any worse. He smiled grimly. As a general rule, hopes were as good to an orphan living off raids as a blaster was against a fully trained Jedi, useless.

Obi-Wan gritted his teeth. He resented the Jedi and everything they stood for. None of them could understand what it was like to be living on the scraps that the Republic left behind, or the supplies the Republic hadn't. Either way the Jedi protected the selfish wishes of the Republic, and therefore they were Obi-Wan's enemies, as long as Obi-Wan's family consisted of those in the raid group, he wouldn't let go of his feelings towards the Jedi, feelings of extreme hatred and distrust.

"Better pay attention now," Birk said, jabbing Obi-Wan with the butt of Birk's blaster. Obi-Wan nodded his thanks and focused his attention on the approaching supply building. The chain-link fence proved no difficulty for the seasoned thieves, and once inside, Obi-Wan paid close attention to how the atmosphere felt.

Something was off.

"I'm not sure about this," Obi-Wan said firmly to Ash, who in his overconfidence grinned haughtily.

"Watch and learn, Kenobi, only a fool listens to his feelings." Ash leapt down off the wall just beyond the chain-line fence. A sharp hissing sound sound then a thudding noise caused silence to echo throughout the entire courtyard. Ash was dead before he hit the ground, a blaster burn hole in his left temple.

**A/N- It's short but the chapters will get longer as the story goes on. Thanks for reading! =)**


	3. A Costly Mistake

**Chapter 2**

**A Costly Mistake**

_A/N- Hey All! Sorry for the long gap in between postings, I've been trying to brainstorm ideas for the next chapter and it was going really slowly at first, but I've got a little more fuel now. Hope the first chapter was enjoyable, because we're going to get into the story a bit more now. _

_Please enjoy and if you feel so inclined, hit the green button. =)_

_-Don_

* * *

He shifted slightly. The thick folds of his robes rubbing against the ground.

"Patience, my young padawan learner," The other chided, his eyes narrowing as he scanned the courtyard. The fight seemed to be at a standstill after the seeker-blaster took down one of the thieves.

"Shouldn't we intervene now?" The young boy asked impatiently. "I'm getting a really bad feeling about this, Master."

A smile crossed the features of the man, "That's only natural, Jacen," He turned his head, his long hair going with his neck as it moved the head. "I don't much like this myself."

The boy grunted, "So why the kriff are we here?"

"You know that we were asked to guard the peace here should things get out of hand."

"But why us?" Jacen asked, tugging at his dark brown padawan braid. His chocolate colored eyes focused on the boy in the front of the group of thieves in the courtyard. Even from where the two Jedi sat waiting behind the depot's trash cans, Jacen could feel something odd about the boy who stepped forward to examine his fallen comrade. Without even touching any of the vital places, he straightened to make his declaration.

Jacen's head went up sharply as soon as the words were out. "Ash is dead."

"Master," Jacen said slowly. The other was already standing up.

"I felt it too."

Obi-Wan glanced around and then dove for the dirt as another series of shots came from the depot's windows.

"Kriff it," Obi-Wan growled and then loosed a series of shots of his own, sending them based on his feeling of where the other shots were coming from. A few cries came from the windows and Obi-Wan smirked in victory. Then a searing pain shot from his shoulder. He went down with another burn shooting through his right leg. Obi-Wan saw Republic troopers emerging from the other side of the courtyard and then from the door of storage depot. He cursed and then tried to push himself up. A strong hand gripped his arm.

"Hang on, Obi," Birk seethed through his teeth as he opened fire again. More soldiers fired at the two boys as the other thieves began to back up save for Koonjir and the Rodian. Those two were going at the battle with extreme conviction. Koonjir leapt nimbly into the air and landed inches from the first wave of troops and then shoot them straight in between their eyes in quick succession. Then he turned his red eyes on Obi-Wan, who met the gaze. He shoved himself up.

"Birk, it's a lost cause," He managed to say before he shot another two blasts and two more troopers fell. They were quickly replaced by ten more. Screams came from the other side of the courtyard. Two more of the thieves had been shot by the seeker-blasters. Obi-Wan's insides boiled at the amount of brutality that was being used. _Aren't we just petty thieves?_

He was now standing up straight, the blood from his wounds dripping down his clothes and onto the ground. Birk kept his grip on Obi-Wan's arm. The troopers were closing in and Koonjir was pulling back now. The rodian let out a bellow and charged, only to be gunned down. Obi-Wan's restraints then snapped.

He let out a roar and tore away from Birk, who shouted something, but Obi-Wan was now charging straight for the enemy ranks. He took two more blasts in his leg and arm, then in his side before going down. The troopers swarmed in. Koonjir grabbed Birk's arm and dragged him away.

"We have to go, Birk," The Chiss said. Birk reluctantly let himself be led away as his best friend was surrounded by the Republic, and was likely going to die.

* * *

"What, you think you could steal from us, eh?" The captain asked Obi-Wan and delivered a kick, as he raised his blaster, it was wrenched from his hand and sailed across the courtyard into the hand of a robed man with a short beard. Next to him stood a boy of about ten who was dressed similarly but with a short braid hanging from his head.

"Jedi? Who the hell asked you to come here?" The officer demanded. The man frowned deeply.

"Has the Republic lost all sense of justice that we need to be here?" He glanced down at the boy on the ground. "Senator Rengor asked us to investigate a serious breach in military protocol and to deal with some petty thieves. I can see why he sent us."

During the time the man was speaking, the younger robed boy had made his way over to the injured Obi-Wan. He crouched down and closed his eyes, with one hand waved his hand over Obi-Wan.

"Master, he's still alive," The robed boy stated. The man rotated his head to the officer.

"I'll make my report later. In the meantime," He turned to the robed boy, "Jacen, send a message to the Jedi Council to monitor this area."

"Yes, Master," Jacen bowed and then ran back to the gate, which he opened and started back to the docking bay nearby.

The officer grunted, "Nosy Jedi, you always get involved where you're not wanted."

"Murder would be treated the same by the rest of the Republic, not just us," The man then scooped the boy into his arms. "You're fortunate that Jedi have no need for anger."

"Beh, you're all fools, and you'll be dead before you had the sense to let your emotions show every now and then." The officer then signaled to his troops and they retreated.

The man looked down at the boy in his arms. "There's something about you that I…" He shook his head then continued in the direction of the ship. Pondering would have to wait. It was crucial that the life of the boy be saved.

"Master Jinn," The healer approached the long haired Jedi Master. He turned and walked over from where he had been doing a standing meditation in the hallway of the med center.

"Yes?" The Jedi Master stood patiently while the healer went over the condition of the boy found in the courtyard.

"He'll live, but you should be aware that his name wasn't found on any legal records in our data-base." The healer looked distressed.

"An orphan?" Qui Gon-Jinn inferred. The healer nodded.

"That would be my guess, Master Jinn," He then consulted his file, "There's something else."

Qui-Gon looked up sharply, "What is it?"

"Well, I'm not sure this is proper for me to say, but," He lowered his voice so only the Jedi Master could hear. "This boy has signs of severe trauma, he might be at risk for-" Qui-Gon held up his hand, startling the healer out of his explanation.

"If the boy is alive, that is all that matters for now. I believe I know something that will help him, no matter what the problem is," Qui-Gon then sighed. _Now I have to go see to that padawan of mine. _

* * *

Yoda looked up from his chair in the council room. "Enter, you may."

Qui-Gon walked in and bowed to the rest of the Jedi Master council. Then he turned to Yoda, who spoke first. "Contacted us, your padawan had. Something to tell us, you have?"

Qui-Gon nodded, "I believe I have stumbled across a young force potential student."

Yoda's eyes went wide. "Know for sure, that he is force strong, do you?" Yoda asked.

"He could simply just have a strong life presence," Mace Windu said. "There have been mistakes."

"Sure of this, Master Jin, seems," Yoda stated, sensing the other master's confidence. "Bring him before the council, you will. Test him, we will." Yoda then nodded to Qui-Gon, who bowed.

"Thank you, Master Yoda." He said and then strode out. As soon as he was gone, all eyes were on Yoda.

"Master Yoda," Another council member said sternly, "Can you trust so easily what Master Jinn has said?"

Yoda turned and frowned at the member, "Lack trust for your fellow Jedi, do you?" he glanced at the council as a whole. "Believe Master Jinn, we must, if order, there is to be."

"But Master," Windu objected, "Even if he is force sensitive, that doesn't mean he is eligible for training."

Yoda harrumphed, "Handle this, we will, when the time comes. Adjourned, this meeting is." Then he started out of the chamber to the glances of the other members.

* * *

Obi-Wan opened his eyes to find himself in a strange room, a hospital room from the smell of it. Obi-Wan had stolen medical supplies a few times. It was a necessary evil, not that he didn't know the consequences of it. He blinked and took in his surroundings. There wasn't anyone in the room except for the long haired man sitting in the chair next to Obi-Wan's bed.

"You're awake," The man said with a warm smile. "I was beginning to worry."

Obi-Wan glared at the stranger, "Who are you?"

"I am Master Qui Gon-Jinn," The man stated pleasantly, "I suppose you have every right to be confused right now."

Obi-Wan gritted his teeth, "I'm not confused. I know exactly what I think," He spat, "I hate Jedi and you're a Master, so I hate you."

Qui-Gon didn't flinch or react. "You hate me? How is that possible? You have never met me before and I haven't met you before."

Obi-Wan laughed hollowly, "I don't need to know you to know that you're a filthy Jedi who doesn't mind his own business."

Qui-Gon laughed, "That we don't. I'll admit we do stick our necks out a bit."

Obi-Wan scowled more deeply, "I'm not going to listen to you."

Qui-Gon shrugged. "Do as you wish."

For a few minutes Obi-Wan said nothing and gripped the blanket until his knuckles turned white. "Why the hell did you save me?"

Qui-Gon raised an eyebrow, "How did you know I saved you? It could have been someone else."

Obi-Wan's eyes flared but he kept his voice even, "Because I know."

Qui-Gon shifted then stood up, "I wonder, did you know where those troopers were the whole time they were in the depot?"

Obi-Wan narrowed his eyes further, "Yes, why?"

Qui-Gon looked absentmindedly around, "Oh, no reason. I only asked because you seem to simply _know _a lot of things."

The boy looked down, "You wouldn't believe me if I told you why."

With a slight movement, Qui-Gon tossed a coin at Obi-Wan's head. He lifted his hand and caught it a fraction of a second before it hit him. A smile crept across Qui- Gon Jin's face. "Perhaps, I can tell you."

Obi-Wan kept his jaw tight to keep it from falling open. "That I'm crazy?" Obi-Wan retorted.

The man laughed and pulled a small device out of his pocket. "I highly doubt that. Your reflexes are quick, at worst." He crossed over to Obi-Wan and then lightly pressed the device against Obi-Wan's arm. After a minute Qui-Gon pulled it back and examined it. His eyes narrowed for the first time.

"I'm guessing that was some kind of insanity test the Republic distributes." Obi-Wan stated rather than asked. Qui-Gon shook his head silently. Without another word the Jedi Master left the room, leaving a confused Obi-Wan behind.

* * *

The knock on Yoda's chambers came as no surprise to the older master. He had long sensed the approach of the guest and was expecting explanation that he knew would come. The door opened and the long haired form of Qui-Gon Jin entered.

"Master Qui-Gon, a question, you have." The older master didn't move from his position on the floor, nor did he open his eyes. The younger master shifted a little before Yoda opened one eye.

"Tense, you are. Sit with me, will you?"

"Yes, Master." Qui-Gon bowed and then sat opposite the older master.

"About your young potential, is this?" Yoda asked calmly. "Hide it, you cannot. Nor deny what is truth, can you," Yoda opened both eyes and regarded his fellow master, "Face our anxieties, we must, or fall prey to them we will."

"But Master, what if we do not know if we can handle what is before us?" Qui-Gon asked. Yoda smiled. Though Yoda was never angry or harsh, he was almost always stern and strict. A smile was a rare occurrence, even in private.

"Face it or do not, you cannot try because in it, your heart will not be." Yoda stated plainly and closed his eyes for a few moments.

Qui-Gon felt briefly like he was a young padawan again and that Yoda had to once again pound the basics into Qui-Gon's bones.

"I tested the midi-chlorian count of the boy," Qui-Gon said hestitantly.

"Found something, have you?" Yoda asked, though he knew the answer.

"The boy contains them, but there's something odd about it," Obi-Wan straightened as he felt the confidence the force was lending him. "His midi-chlorians aren't normal."

Yoda frowned, "Many of them, are there?"

Qui-Gon nodded, "But that's the odd part," He looked at Yoda, "His own body is destroying them. It's as though he doesn't want to have them at all. But they keep multiplying despite this."

Yoda rubbed his chin, "A mystery, this is. Not willing to accept the force, our young potential is."

Qui-Gon decided now was a good time as any to confide in his Master, "Master Yoda, the boy says he hates Jedi."

Yoda's eyes hardened, "A strong feeling, hate. Lead him to the dark side, it will, if control it he does not."

Qui-Gon looked his master dead-on, "But I don't feel any anger from him."

Yoda looked slightly perplexed, "Hate us, he says he does, but hate us truly, does he?"

Qui-Gon smiled, "I was wondering about that myself."

Yoda looked thoughtful, "Insight on this, have you, Master Jinn?"

The younger master's face became one of passion, "He's confused at most. But not angry enough to lose himself in it."

Yoda pushed himself up onto his cane, "Hope you are right, I do." Yoda said and then with a curt nod, he went further into his chambers. Qui-Gon took his leave then with every intention of talking to the boy further.

* * *

After few days in the med-center had Obi-Wan feeling much more energized and he was well enough to walk around and didn't need an IV any more. It was when he was starting to forget why he was there, that the reason decided to show up.

"You're back," Obi-Wan stated coolly as Qui-Gon entered the room. He sat down in a chair.

"Do you mind?" The Jedi Master questioned neutrally.

"I could care less." Obi-Wan answered with a shrug. He busied himself with trying to space out enough to not notice where he was. But the Jedi Master had other ideas.

"You aren't crazy, I came to tell you that," The Jedi Master stated. Obi-Wan regarded Qui-Gon with an empty stare.

"Great, now I can jump for joy," Obi-Wan said sardonically.

Qui-Gon chuckled, which threw Obi-Wan off long enough for the Master to put in his question, "How come you won't tell anyone your name?"

Obi-Wan averted his eyes, "Does it matter?"

"In a galaxy sense, no, but it could help us to find out who you are." Qui-Gon stated carefully. Obi-Wan snorted and then laughed loudly.

"I'm nobody. That should be enough," He shifted against his pillow then glared at Qui-Gon, who was still smiling. "What?"

"Everyone is somebody, and you are too. But if it bothers you that much that we know a nobody's name, you don't have to say anything." Qui-Gon then leaned back and began to read a book he'd brought with him. Obi-Wan stared intently down at his blankets, his hands shook slightly.

Obi-Wan's voice broke Qui-Gon's reading halfway down the page. "Benjamin Obi-Wan Kenobi."

Qui-Gon raised his head to meet Obi-Wan's gaze, "Which do you prefer?"

Obi-Wan shrugged. "Obi-Wan, nobody calls me Ben."

"Obi-Wan, then," Qui-Gon said with a nod. "You'll be happy to know that your abilities aren't due to anything strange." He paused as he closed his book and checked his chrono, "In fact, you are close to being the strongest Jedi potential in years."

Obi-Wan could only stare blankly at the Jedi Master before his throat unglued itself. "Jedi potential? You mean I'm a freak like you?"

Qui-Gon sighed, "I wish you wouldn't use such language. It's not very good to convince yourself of things that simply aren't true."

"What's not true, that you're freaks?"

"That very well may be, but you don't actually dislike us half as much as you think you do," Qui-Gon stood up. "Come, the healers have cleared you to accompany me to the Jedi Council."

Obi-Wan stared at the Jedi Master as though he'd just told Obi-Wan he was a happy jawa. "You think I'm going to your stupid gathering, you're out of your mind."

Qui-Gon once again ignored Obi-Wan and walked out of the room, in a few minute he returned with a set of plain clothes. "Put these on and meet me down the hall when you are ready." Qui-Gon then shut the door behind him.

Obi-Wan stared at the clothes and then up at the closed door. He truly wished he had died at the courtyard, but now he was stuck with playing to the tune of the same Jedi who had made his life a living hell. He was going to meet the ones in charge of all the trouble the Jedi were causing. Obi-Wan held the clothes in his hand as though they were an explosive about to go off. A quick glance at the door made up his mind for him.

**A/N- It's still slowly moving along but now we're getting to the Obi-Wan/Qui-Gon stuff, so that's something. Please review! =) Oh, and yes, I did name Qui-Gon's apprentice "Jacen" on purpose (I'll get to explaining that later on). **


	4. Tests of the Mind

**Chapter 3**

**Tests of the Mind**

_A/N- I'm sorry for the delay in posting. I've been caught up in my other story "Life and the Force" and I've been working my two part-time jobs the rest of the time, so it's been busy. So anyways, thanks to all of you that have reviewed and alerted this story. I am always happy when someone likes my work. _

_Best,_

_-Don =)_

* * *

_My name is Obi-Wan Kenobi. Ben. I am an orphan from Coruscant and I am the reason the galaxy fell to the dark side._

_My name is Obi-Wan Kenobi and I am the one who killed my apprentices. _

* * *

The light cast shadows on the faces of the Masters as they carefully listened to the young boy before them as he responded to each of their questions.

"And felt these thing before they happened, did you?" Yoda questioned.

"I only know that I was able to prevent my comrades from dying because I had a feeling something was wrong," The boy couldn't help but frown at these pointless questions. He couldn't believe that Qui-Gon-Jinn had convinced the boy, to convince him, that he should at least take the test. After being caught trying to escape and given the option to leave the hospital with no sense of direction, seemed foolish to Obi-Wan, so in the end, he relented and let himself be led to the Jedi Master Council room.

Now he'd been there for at least an hour, answering questions, and was given a number of strange tests where he had to sense what the Jedi Masters were thinking or what objects were on the concealed holo-disc.

"You say you have predicted things," Mace Windu said, leaning forward, "What have you predicted?"

"I've only sensed once when someone was about to die and that was in the courtyard before the leader of our raid group was killed," Obi-Wan replied, his eyes growing defensive. "Should I have done something?"

Yoda closed his eyes and shook his head, "No. Easy to see, the future is not. More difficult to misinterpret than to find the right path, it is."

Obi-Wan stared at, what was to him, the strangest alien he'd ever seen. "What if I was able to prevent it?"

Some of the masters began whispering and others talking over one another at Obi-Wan's comment. "Attempt to prevent the future, we must not. Or doomed to face what we see, we will be." Yoda said, his ears drooped a little as he spoke. "Force potential indeed you have, Young Kenobi." The green master regarded the boy with serious eyes, "But to rise and train yourself, your choice it is."

Obi-Wan opened his mouth and then closed it before he spoke, "I want to think about it." In the back of his mind, Obi-Wan had already made his decision but he wanted to buy time to figure out where he was and how to return to his fellow raiders.

"Meditate on it, you may." Yoda said with an approving nod, "Think not about the predictions, you must not."

Obi-Wan then nodded and turned, exiting the small room. Once outside he took a look around. The Jedi temple was truly a beautiful place even though Obi-Wan despised the purpose for which it was built.

"Impressive, is it not?" A voice turned Obi-Wan's head, expecting to see Qui-Gon but instead another person stood before him. The man's golden brown hair shone in the light coming in from the windows of the Temple and his emerald green eyes fixated on Obi-Wan. He had a slight beard forming on his chin and the lack of lines on his face indicated his youth.

"I am sure you already know what they think of you," The man said, giving Obi-Wan a knowing smile.

"That they think I'm a stupid orphan who doesn't belong among the Jedi?" Obi-Wan scoffed. The man laughed.

"On the contrary," The man replied, looking up at the ceiling as the glowing holograms of stars suddenly became apparent to Obi-Wan. "I think they all want to know why you didn't run away when you had the chance."

Obi-Wan's jaw dropped slightly but he shut it quickly before replying, "How did you know?"

The man folded his arms into the sleeves of his robes. "Because I'm a lot like you, Obi-Wan," The man paused as he looked down at Obi-Wan. "I am an orphan."

Obi-Wan scowled, "You lie, you're just saying that to get me to lower my guard."

"Search me, Obi-Wan, you'll know whether or not I'm lying for yourself," The man replied solemnly. As Obi-Wan thought about it footsteps echoed in the halls and the two turned to face Qui-Gon Jinn as he approached.

"Oh, I see you've met Obi-Wan," Qui-Gon said as he came over. "Obi-Wan, this is Jedi Knight Amitai Syrigus Veila," Obi-Wan accepted the extended hand by the Jedi Knight with some reluctance but Amigus seemed like the first person who actually was able to level with Obi-Wan.

"You'll do fine if you do choose to remain here, Obi-Wan," Amitai said with a calm nod, "I have faith that you will be stronger than many of those Masters in the room."

"Don't fill his head with delusions of grandeur, Jedi Knight Veila," The cool voice of Master Agrarius K'tar, a broad shouldered bothan with the sharpest silver eyes Obi-Wan had ever seen. "Remember your place as a student and not a Master."

Amitai's gaze lowered and he averted his slightly flaring eyes, "I apologize, Master K'tar, I shall remember." Amitai threw a strange look at Obi-Wan before disappearing down the hallway. There was something in that look that Obi-Wan recognized but he wasn't sure what it was that it reminded him of, if it was anything at all.

"Well, Obi-Wan, if you're ready, the Council wishes to hear your reply," K'tar said, his stony voice sending an overbearing weight onto Obi-Wan's shoulders. He shifted slightly, wondering if he should make a break for it or simply just say he wasn't interested in becoming a Jedi or even standing within a foot of them or their Jedi Temple. But something told Obi-Wan that he should accept for whatever crazy reason there was. He raised his eyes to meet those of K'tar.

"I have my answer," Obi-Wan said. K'tar then nodded and Obi-Wan followed him back into the chamber where the other masters were waiting patiently.

* * *

"A student you have already, Master Jinn," Yoda said, frowning seriously as the long haired Master stood before the council. Following Obi-Wan's acceptance to become a padawan, with some reluctance on his part, Qui-Gon made the request to have Obi-Wan become his student in addition to Jacen.

"I can teach them both, Obi-Wan is vulnerable and I know best how to teach him," Qui-Gon argued firmly. "Please, Master."

Yoda shook his head. "Your request, I cannot grant. There is no room for two students under one Master."

"If one of your padawans were to get injured, you would have to care for him and leave the other to someone else," Another Master put in. "It is too dangerous to try to teach two student whose abilities are so far apart in level and type."

"Master Unar is correct," K'tar put in, "There is no reason for Obi-Wan to have the strain of being under a Master who already possesses a student."

"A Master in mind, you have, Master K'tar?" Yoda turned his eyes towards the bothan, whose fur ruffled in dignity.

"I wish to teach Obi-Wan myself," K'tar said. The other masters began murmuring.

"A strange request, Master K'tar," Master Mace Windu, who had only recently been appointed to the council said cautiously, "Are you sure that someone else would not be better suited."

The bothan bristled, "Curb your tongue, Master Windu, you disrespect your elders too openly."

Windu scowled, "And you haughtily believe that you have the right to take every unusual student under your wing." He turned to face Yoda, "Master Yoda, I request to have Jedi Knight Veila tested to be a Jedi Master."

Yoda leaned forward, his ears raising and twitching slightly with interest, "Make him a master to teach Obi-Wan, you think is best?"

Windu nodded, "Yes, Master, I do." Windu threw a direct glance at K'tar before Windu returned his attention to Yoda, who was meditating in his chair with his eyes closed. After a few minutes of silence in the Council Room, Yoda reopened his eyes

"Test Jedi Knight Veila we will, if potential we see, become Kenobi's master, Veila will," Yoda glanced at Windu. "Find and bring Veila to the council, you will."

Windu inclined his head, "Yes, Master Yoda." Windu then stood and walked out of the chamber, his youthful face hardened with the determination he felt to find Obi-Wan the right master. K'tar continued to fume.

"I do not believe you are correct in letting such a young master choose a master for a new padawan," K'tar spoke angrily. Yoda regarded K'tar with fiery green eyes.

"Your position to object, it is not. Accept the council's decision, you will, Master K'tar."

The bothan shrunk back a little but his obvious distaste showed on his fur and in his eyes, "Yes, Master Yoda."

* * *

As all the Masters filed out of the council room, Obi-Wan kept his eyes focused on Qui-Gon, almost positive that the Jedi Master who had found Obi-Wan at the courtyard was going to tell him that Jinn was going to be Obi-Wan's new master. Not surprisingly, therefore, Qui-Gon crossed over to where Obi-Wan stood silently against the wall, almost invisible to anyone who didn't bother to look in the dark corners in the hallway.

"Obi-Wan," Qui-Gon nodded to the young boy. "You could have wandered around if you wanted to."

Obi-Wan continued to look impassive as he gave his curt response, "Why would I want to look around?"

Qui-Gon gave Obi-Wan a bemused look, "Your lack of curiosity is quite impressive, Obi-Wan."

Obi-Wan snorted and frowned at Qui-Gon with some amusement of Obi-Wan's own. "I don't lack curiosity. I just don't feel the need to explore a place I have no liking for." His eyes averted to hide the bitterness that had risen there.

"The more you hide your resentment, the more likely it is to come back to haunt you, Obi-Wan," Qui-Gon said gently but still firmly. Obi-Wan raised an eyebrow.

"Should I consider that my first lesson as your student?" Obi-Wan asked, folding his arms across his chest.

"Consider it advice from one Jedi to another," Qui-Gon replied with a smile, "Unfortunately I will not be your teacher, someone else will be chosen."

"Why?" Obi-Wan asked, suddenly feeling some unease in his stomach at the statement. He couldn't figure out why though. Qui-Gon gestured to the Council Room.

"Because I already have a student," Qui-Gon replied simply, though his own disappointment in the system was clear in his tone to Obi-Wan. "The Council will appoint you a master soon." Qui-Gon looked down the hall as Mace Windu approached, followed by the tall form of Amitai Veila. "Go to the main training center and ask for Jacen Solo. He'll show you around somewhere I'm sure you'll find more to your liking." Qui-Gon gave Obi-Wan a brief wink before the Jedi Master turned and went into the Council room with Windu and Veila.

Obi-Wan wondered if Jacen Solo was nearly as boring as the rest of the Jedi or if the young Jedi student was simply just a disaster waiting to happen and that's why Qui-Gon wanted Jacen to meet Obi-Wan.

_Joy, _Obi-Wan thought to himself as he navigated his way through the hallways, briefly hoping that something besides talking would happen at the training center. The training center, as it turned out, was almost a ten minute walk at most from the Temple and it was a simple building with a large outdoor sparring box where several students were using training sticks to fight one another. As Obi-Wan rounded the corner of the sparring box he was knocked to the ground by a strong force. It only took Obi-Wan a few seconds to recover before his built up tension sent his opponent flying through the air with a simple punch from Obi-Wan's fist.

"Not bad, Kenobi," A voice said from behind. Obi-Wan turned to see another person approaching from the other side of the sparring box. "You're just as good as you were in the courtyard."

Obi-Wan didn't need any second telling, he could feel, somehow, that this was the boy Qui-Gon had mentioned. "Jacen Solo." Obi-Wan said, frowning. Obi-Wan felt a sharp pain in his arm as he whirled to face the opponent who had attacked him before.

"Might want to use this, she doesn't take it easy, even on newbies," Jacen said, tossing Obi-Wan a sparring stick. Obi-Wan caught it with ease and then faced his opponent. Obi-Wan grinned. This was more his style.

"You don't like to play by the rules, "Obi-Wan's opponent, a girl around Obi-Wan's age, with bright blonde hair and the sharpest emerald green eyes Obi-Wan had ever seen. _Where have I seen eyes like that before? _The answer, he didn't find out because the girl charged Obi-Wan.


	5. Trepidations

**Chapter 4**

**Trepidations**

_A/N- I got my brain working for an update sooner than I expected, yay!! I see from the hit count and alerts that this fic is pretty well off in the reading department. I hope everyone is enjoying the fic so far. It would have been up earlier but for some reason FFN wasn't letting me upload for the past two days, so I apologize for the delay.  
_

_If you want to talk about the fic, feel free to shoot me a PM and/or a review, I don't bite (as long as you don't flame me)._

_Again, this story is a prequel to my "Namesake" series that I'm currently running, so if there are some bits you don't get, that's why. _

_Thanks for reading!! _

_-Don =)_

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Obi-Wan skidded backwards, but managed to keep his balance as his energetic opponent came back for a second attack. He deflected the blows, slowly feeling some of her movements before they happened.

Jacen watched with building interest in Obi-Wan's developing skills, even though only five minutes had passed since the sparring match had begun, Obi-Wan was already showing a vast improvement as the match went on. The girl struck out at Obi-Wan's open side and he received a stinging sensation in response. He then lashed back out, sending her back a few paces before she caught her balance and rolled into a crouch before standing back up.

His opponent grunted in a strange cross between exileration and frustration. Neither Obi-Wan nor she wanted to give any ground it wasn't working for either of them to be at a standstill. A glint appeared in her eyes and she renewed her efforts, charging Obi-Wan with quick slashes in all directions, he dodged, ducked, and parried all the blows, but sweat had already begun to bead at his forehead.

Jacen continued to watch but a frown was forming on his face. Neither of the younger students seemed to notice how violent their blows were verging on. Sure, sparring had its share of bumps and bruises but it never went to the line Obi-Wan and the girl were about to cross.

With a strong shove, the girl hit the dirt, her arm bleeding from a small gash on her wrist. Obi-Wan breathed heavily, a cut on his forehead, blood trickling into his eye. He straightened and then raised his sparring stick, ready for his opponent to give up, but she pushed herself up and charged once more into the fray.

_Kriff, _Obi-Wan thought to himself_ this girl just doesn't want to give up. _He staggered as she hit him in the abdomen, then he gave a derisive snort through his nostrils and stared at his opponent while the both caught their breaths.

"Just what's your problem?" Obi-Wan asked, his brow furrowing as sweat trickled down it, "I didn't ask you to fight me."

"You didn't have to say it out loud, but I felt through the force that you were itching for a fight," The girl said with a knowing look, "Any more questions before I clobber you?"

Obi-Wan shifted his weight so it was even so he could be ready if she randomly decided to attack him, "Yeah, one," He scrutinized her again before he continued, "Are you related to Jedi Knight Amitai Veila?"

As Obi-Wan had predicated, she ran at him weaving around so he couldn't figure out which direction she'd end up attacking from, Obi-Wan didn't need to know since he could hear the way she was breathing and what direction her thoughts were going. It was strange, Obi-Wan hadn't felt anything like thoughts before, but now they were flooding into his consciousness like they were his own. He moved left but realized a fraction of a second too late that his opponent was now right in front of him, to the right.

The slamming sensation left Obi-Wan winded on the ground, his entire body ached and his clothes were completely covered in dust and dirt. He grimaced as he looked up into the emerald green eyes of his opponent.

"To answer your question, yes, my name is Kaina Veila," She lowered her sparring stick as she continued: "Amitai Veila is my uncle."

* * *

"A master's abilities you have," Yoda said, inclining his head to Amitai as he stood before the council on the master training grounds, separate from the one the students used. "But a master's discipline and mentality you lack." Yoda tapped his cane on the ground for silence as the other master began muttering. K'tar was the only one who remained stone silent throughout the entire test.

Now a smug smile had begun to creep its way across the bothan's face, but Yoda, instead of finalizing his latter statement, continued the former, "Approved, your promotion to master is." K'tar's eyes darkened but he remained silent once again. "Caution you, Master Veila, I do. Observed and records your training methods will be."

Yoda paused and gave a thoughtful grumble, "Unusual it is, that master has a padawan upon his promotion to master. Tested your discipline will be when you teach padawan Kenobi."

The newly dubbed master bowed, "Yes, Master Yoda. I understand. I will do my utmost not to disappoint."

"Right," Yoda said, turning to Mace Windu as Amitai departed, "About Master Veila, I hope you are."

Mace lifted his gaze to watch the clearly angry form of K'tar make his way towards the temple. "I'm more worried about the anger I sense in Master K'tar."

Yoda looked over at Mace, "Your concern, it is not. Focus on your training as a master, you must."

Mace bowed, "Yes, Master. If you'll excuse me, I have some matters to attend to."

"With you, may the force be," Yoda said to the younger master, who smiled serenely.

"And you, Master," Mace smiled affectionately. Then Windu made his way across the grounds, away from the small creature who was the oldest member of the council and Mace's own teacher at one point. As a youngling, Mace had shown great potential and Yoda had seen to it that Mace grew strong with the force under the older Jedi Master's tutelage. In a short amount of time, it was clear that Windu's level of understanding of the force and his ability to think rationally, as well as obey the code, was strong. Yoda himself called the council to test the young Jedi Knight and soon Windu was on the council following his promotion to master.

Yoda found himself smiling a fond smile at the memory of Windu when the boy had first arrived. To Yoda Windu was still an unruly padawan learner fully of youthful ideals and energy. Some things would never change.

* * *

"Niece?" Obi-Wan blurted, "Your uncle's a Jedi too?"

Kaina folded her arms across her chest, keeping the sparring stick in the crook of her elbow, "Yeah, what about it?" Her tone, Obi-Wan noticed, was almost always defensive or simply tough and stubborn. What he made of her attitude, Obi-Wan wasn't quite sure yet.

He frowned in slight confusion, "I thought Jedi weren't allowed to have kids."

Kaina nodded in affirmation, her eyes still cautiously observing and trying to figure out what kind of person he was. "They aren't. I said he was my uncle, not my father."

Obi-Wan held up a hand as her eyes flared as if in preparation of an insult. "That's not what I meant."

Kaina now took her turn to be confused, "What'd you mean then?"

"Your parents, Kaina," Obi-Wan said, looking directly into her piercing green eyes, "I was talking about you."

Kaina's averted for the first time. Obi-Wan felt a change in her emotional state through the force, though it was only a slight one, it was like a twitch in the air around them. "My parents weren't Jedi or force sensitive. They died of a contagious disease when I was three." She looked up again, "My uncle raised me after they died."

Obi-Wan felt something inside of him twitch as she mentioned her parents. Once again the feelings of the people around him were apparent as his own. How was this possible?

"So he found out you were force sensitive?" Obi-Wan found himself asking without his own volition.

"Yeah," Kaina said, her eyes still hardened, "Why do you care? You spent your entire life with your family until now."

Obi-Wan stared impassively at Kaina with his eyes darkening as he spoke, "No, I haven't seen them since the day I was born."

Kaina clamped her mouth shut at the cold feeling she felt from Obi-Wan and the sound of his voice. After a few minutes she managed a small, "Oh."

Jacen stepped over, "Hey, she didn't mean it, Obi," Jacen pointed out. Obi-Wan regarded Jacen with haunted eyes but didn't show any sign of anger.

"I know," Obi-Wan replied flatly and picked up his sparring stick off the ground.

"Obi?" Kaina questioned, "Is that short for something?"

"There you are, Obi-Wan," A voice called and all three padawans turned around to see the form of Amitai Veila made his way over.

_Obi-Wan? _Kaina thought to herself. _I've never heard of anyone with a name like that. Is that his real name?_

"I was wondering where you got off to," Amitai continued, he then noticed his niece, "I see you've met Kaina." He placed a hand on her head, "She's a real fighter." There was clear pride in Amitai's voice as he spoke.

"I believe it," Obi-Wan replied with a small bemused glance in Kaina's direction.

"Well," Amitai said, "We'd best get started on your training, Obi-Wan. We're going to leave for our training in two days."

Obi-Wan looked up in surprise, "You're my master?"

"Yes and I've decided that the best training is experience, so we're going to travel around to get some." Amitai then gave a curt nod to his new student, "Meet me in two days at the front of the temple and we'll depart from there." Amitai then turned and walked back towards the temple in question, leaving Obi-Wan silently wondering if he'd made the right choice to remain with the Jedi.

"Don't look so scared, you'll get some great stuff out of traveling," Jacen said. The teenager obviously had a lot more confidence than Obi-Wan because Jacen wasn't in the least bit worried or nervous. Everything seemed like a joke to the older boy. Kaina looked strangely at Obi-Wan.

"What's your name?" She asked. Obi-Wan looked at her quizzically.

"Obi-Wan," He said, "You heard your uncle say my name yourself."

"I mean your _real _name," She said firmly. Obi-Wan blinked a little and then averted his eyes.

"It's Ben, Benjamin Obi-Wan Kenobi," He looked at the ground for another minute before he met her gaze, "But I don't go by Ben."

"Well, I like Ben better so you're stuck with it," Kaina said with a glance over at Jacen, who was looking very amused by the whole situation.

"You're lucky I decided to leave your name the way it is," She said sardonically. He held up his hands in surrender.

"Hey, I wasn't objecting, Kay," He gave a shrug in Obi-Wan's direction. "Call him Ben if that's what you want." Jacen gave another apologetic shrug at Obi-Wan, who didn't respond.

"Are you always this moody?" Kaina asked, peering at Obi-Wan carefully.

"I'm not moody," He said tersely.

"A credit for your thoughts," She insisted, raising an eyebrow. He sighed and then handed her the sparring stick.

"Thanks for the fight," He then walked back to the temple where he wound his way through the corridors until he found the records library and sat down behind one of the long rows of shelves, his knees pulled up to his chest.

* * *

As night fell, Obi-Wan's stomach growled but he'd been used to the feeling of hunger for so long that it hardly bothered him. He felt something poke him in the cheek and he turned.

"Your stomach is loud enough to wake the entire temple," Obi-Wan stared at the speaker. It was Kaina, the girl he'd sparred with earlier. How she found him or why, he wasn't sure. She held out a small tray of food.

"I snuck some food out of the kitchen," Kaina said as she sat down next to him. "Since you weren't at dinner I figured you hadn't eaten."

"I'm not hungry," Obi-Wan said his voice sober and low but not harsh. Kaina shook her head.

"You are, but you just don't want to admit it," She tapped the tray and after a second set it in front of Obi-Wan. But he just sat there, not moving, his eyes on the ground and looking at nothing in particular on the plain floor panels. Kaina then stood up and started towards the exit.

"Wait," Obi-Wan said, surprised that his voice had managed a sound at all. He was so used to everyone giving him space but for some reason he didn't want to be left alone in a place he was completely unfamiliar with. Kaina turned and walked back over, though she still stood a fair distance from him. "I can't eat all of this… will you help me finish it?"

Kaina's eyes widened a little in surprise at his request, "You haven't really eaten anything like this before; have you?"

Obi-Wan lifted his face, "No, I've usually eaten rations stolen from the military." He looked at the tray. It was almost intimidating to look at what to some was a regular balanced meal with a nice aroma wafting around it.

"Sure," She said brightly and sat back down next to him. "I can eat a lot more than one meal anyways."

Obi-Wan smiled faintly and then started on eating the potatoes, "What is this?"

"Potatoes," She gave him an incredulous look, "You've never had potatoes?" He shook his head. She then proceeded to push the potatoes over in his direction on the plate.

"You have to eat all of them then, they're the best part," Kaina waited while Obi-Wan forked a potato and chewed it and then swallowed, still mulling over the taste. It was definitely filling.

"It's good," He said with some surprise. Kaina laughed.

"Told you."

With the library empty except for the librarian and the two padawans enjoying their meal, peace passed through the temple and for once Obi-Wan was able to sense it.

**A/N- Don't worry, there's more to come as soon as I can brainstorm some more. Please review and thanks for reading! =)**


	6. Running Against the Rails

**Chapter 5**

**Running Against the Rails**

_A/N- I've got nothing to say except that I hope you guys will forgive me for taking way too long to update. I've been up to my ears in schoolwork until now (since I'm on Winter Break) so I'll be updating a lot of stories that I haven't in a while. _

_I just updated "Remember" for anyone who is reading my YJK story. I will updating "In Rainbows" and "Fallen Knight" soon as well. _

_Also, if you're a fan fiction writer and you have some fics you're particularly proud of (that you've written) and you have a Deviant Art account, feel free to look up "FeaturedFanFiction." It's a new group I've founded for high quality fan fiction and anyone who wants to join is welcome to do so. The rules and requirements for submission are listed on the group's description. _

_Oh, and those of you who know the JJK books, you'll recognize a familiar character in this chapter. ;) _

_Thanks for reading! =) _

_-Don ^_^ _

_

* * *

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Kaina roughly slammed her training stick against the wall. It clattered from her hands and she didn't bother to pick it back up in her rage. She was thankful, more subconsciously than anything else, that none of the Masters or other Jedi for that matter, had found her in this state.

She hadn't quite expected Obi-Wan's departure to affect her so heavily, but the moment the ship's engines roared to life and it disappeared into hyperspace, she felt her chest heave out a sigh that neither she nor anyone present was expecting.

She'd muttered a quick apology and in her confusion, ran. Kaina Veila rarely ever ran, but run she did from that dock and once she'd cleared her head she'd turned herself around and started for the training facility.

If anything she should be thoroughly ticked off at Obi-Wan for leaving so soon after they'd shared what some might consider to be a strong bonding moment through the force. Blaming him would be ridiculous as he didn't have a choice since that's where his new master was taking him. Kaina's uncle firmly believed in training away from one's origin in order to have a better understanding of one's self. The thought process was a little backwards and incredibly unorthodox, but that's just how he was.

"I see my apprentice is hard at work." Even though the voice was calm, Kaina jumped with a start at the broken silence of the room besides her breathing.

"Sorry, Master," She said and averted her gaze.

"Now why would you be apologizing?" A smile spread across the master's features. "That tells me more than anything that something is bothering you, the force aside."

Kaina found it futile to argue with him as he could usually tell right away that she was troubled or deep in thought when she apologized without any particular reason or apologized at all. Kaina Veila didn't apologize for anything.

"I'm just thinking, Master," She said in a steadier voice. She still felt unease creeping into her mind but she shoved it aside.

"Ah," He said, his brow lifted. "That is indeed the source of all your troubles, isn't it?" The Jedi Master's leathery padded feet barely made any noise as he crossed the floor. In a single bound the white furry master launched himself onto his apprentice's shoulder. He had an annoying habit of making his presence impossible to ignore. "Now tell me, My Young Padawan, what," He paused for a moment and then amended, "Or rather, who, is on your mind?"

"Since you already know, why don't you tell me, Master Ikrit?" Kaina asked, not bothering to keep the exasperation and sourness out of her tone.

"Because I want to hear you say it," Ikrit replied, narrowing his round and bright green eyes at her. He had ears like a hare that flopped from side to side as he turned his head or moved any which direction. His tail was bushy and flicked from side to side whenever he said something particularly insightful. Kaina couldn't decide if that was conscious or subconscious on his part.

"I'm thinking about Ben," Kaina admitted, though she couldn't imagine why she was letting him in on her little secret. Not that it mattered anymore as the entire Jedi Council would probably know by the next day that she'd developed some, no matter how little, bond with Benjamin Obi-Wan Kenobi.

"Ah, yes, Young Obi-Wan, is it?" Ikrit's tail flicked to the right and then back to the center, "You have developed a bond with him." It wasn't a question and Kaina feared what that meant.

"Yes, Master," She stated and lowered her head. Ikrit made a low noise that sounded like "Hrm."

"You dislike this bond?" Ikrit asked. Kaina shook her head. She wasn't sure how to explain her connection to Obi-Wan. He was probably the only friend she'd ever had, if she could call their relationship that at all, and she certainly didn't dislike him. He was infinitely better company than Jacen Solo was at any rate. The older boy wouldn't leave Kaina alone and even when he did it was because he was busy showing off.

Did she honestly like him? Well, it wasn't that she liked him. She barely knew him. But he gave her a sense of peace and belonging that she hadn't felt around other Jedi. Maybe she felt that way about Ikrit, but it was a different kind of serenity.

"My Young Padawan, you need not be afraid of bonds, especially ones that give you a sense of peace," Ikrit said as if he'd sensed her thoughts. He had a way of doing that, though how she still didn't know and could only guess how he'd managed to sense her exact emotions as she felt them. "There is no point in worrying about these emotions as you will sort them out in your own time."

Kaina turned her head slightly, and a little sheepishly, "But what if I let myself become too attached?" Ikrit let out a warm and surprisingly low and booming laugh.

"You have been listening far too much to Jacen Solo, Padawan Veila," Ikrit said and affectionately placed a paw on her head. "Now let us commence your training as you already warmed up."

Kaina put aside her misgivings and nodded, "Yes, Master." For now she'd just focus on her training and worry about what Obi-Wan was doing or making her feel inside later.

* * *

"Eh?" The dark bearded man scowled suspiciously at the two robed Jedi before him, "You want me to _what_?" They were standing in a dingy looking shop with a wide assortment of weapons and the wooden roof looked like was about to cave in any second. The bearded man who was the owner looked like was more than a little out of the world with his scarred face and cloudy left eye. It could clearly see the two Jedi, but it caused Obi-Wan to shiver visibly.

Amitai folded his arms into the billowy sleeves of his robe, "Give us the Garm Worm Rockets."

"Yer out of yer ruddy mind, I can't sell ye those and ye know it!" The owner said and waved his hand in dismissal. "An' don't be usin' that stupid trick of yours on me, it don't work."

"What trick?" Obi-Wan asked, looking up with a frown at his master, who ignored the young boy.

"Listen, this is Jedi business," Amitai said and leaned forward on the counter. He placed one hand on his belt and let his robe slid back slightly to reveal the lightsaber hanging there. "You know better than to meddle in it."

"Meddle? Meddle, my mother's dirty laundry you'll be telling me not to meddle!" He pulled a thin gun from under the dusty glass counter. "Get your grimy face out of my shop, Amitai Veila."

The Jedi's jaw twitched visibly and finger curled around the hilt of his lightsaber. "I'm warning you, don't make me do something drastic."

"Drastic?" The owner scoffed, "Don't make me laugh, Amitai. Ye know as well as I that the only one who's drastic is you. Walking in hear and askin' me to give you weapons that have been off the market for nearly a century and banned on ten star systems!"

"The fact that you actually have them is dangerous enough," Amitai stated, folding his arms across his chest. The owner shifted and looked down at the counter for a second. "So, what'll it be, Ed?"

Without another word the owner disappeared into the back room and then reappeared with two relatively small guns as far as rocket launchers went, and placed the silvery weapons on the counter. "You're out of yer mind using these. You'll be in trouble with more than just the Jedi."

"Well, that's my problem now and not yours," Amitai said coolly and then grinned slightly. "You take care of yourself, huh?" Ed nodded and a smile crossed his face for the first time since the Jedi entered the shop. He took Amitai's outstretched hand and shook it.

"Aye, you watch yourself and may the force be with you and your insanity." Ed went into the backroom and the two Jedi exited the shop, Amitai with the two guns tucked under his arm. Obi-Wan withheld many of his questions as to why they had entered a clearly black-market type shop and bought weapons that were illegal. Obi-Wan couldn't exactly say he was opposed to the idea of using illegal weapons since all the weapons he'd used were either stolen from shops or taken by force, usually entailing that the original owner was either unconscious or dead.

"Hold this," Amitai unceremoniously shoved the second gun into Obi-Wan's arms and before the younger Jedi could say anything, Amitai had lifted his gun, propped it up on his shoulder and without warning fired it with a ground shaking boom. A few feet in front of them buildings exploded and people poured out onto the dirty streets and soon all eyes were on the only two people in the vicinity holding guns.

**A/N- How's that for ending with a bang? =) More to come in the following days, so stay tuned! **


	7. Out of Time

**Chapter 6**

**Out of Time**

_A/N- Sorry, it took me longer than I thought to get another update posted. I kept getting distracted and I'm now on my job term for college so I'm only going to be able to post on the weekends (except for holidays that I have off on the rare occasion)._

_So, here's my posting and thanks so much for being patient!_

_-Don ^-^_

_

* * *

_

It took Obi-Wan all but a minute to realize that he was now the source of attention alongside his master and that there was now a blazing fire and a crater where the building next to them had been a moment before. He just as suddenly found himself shoved forward in a sprint and glanced behind him to see that they were being pursued by not only the civilians of the small town, but by officers on speederbikes.

"Kriff, what the hell did you do that for?" He directed at his master.

"Such language, are you afraid, Obi?" The older man asked, smiling. Obi-Wan snorted. He'd caused more destruction than this, but for a different reason.

"No, but you're just being unnecessarily destructive," Obi-Wan stated. His master smiled.

"Very good, Padawan Kenobi, you've learned your first lesson," He then drew his lightsaber and stood to the side. He used the blade to knock one of the officers off his speeder and then hopped on, pulling Obi-Wan on with him. His master was clearly insane. No other Jedi would have blown up part of a district and tried to escape when approached about it. Would they? Obi-Wan was convinced that these methods were certainly unorthodox as far as Jedi went, but what could he do about it? He was stuck trying to survive his training and if he didn't, it wouldn't be because of his lack of training, it would be because his master was crazy.

It wasn't all that comforting.

* * *

Kaina broke her concentration for a second as she felt a shudder through the force. That was all it took for her to fall over from her meditation position on the rock Ikrit had told her to levitate while seated on top of it. Now she tumbled down and the rock narrowly missed hitting her on the head.

"You must focus on one thing at a time or you will be a pancake by the end of this training session," Ikrit said with amusement in his tone. It never ceased to amaze her how perceptive he was without chiding his students about their thoughts. She shook the fear from her mind long enough to turn to face her master.

"Master, what kind of teacher is my uncle?"

"Amitai?" Ikrit said, flicking his tail in surprise at his pupil's question. "Quite the spontaneous one, why do you ask, Padawan Veila? Have you never seen him training other students?"

She shook her head. "He never talks about it around me." She looked at the furry master, "Are you sure he is safe?"

Ikrit paused for a moment, thinking over his answer. "I am not sure of anything. But he was approved by the council, so I am sure young Obi-Wan will be fine."

"I didn't ask about him," Kaina said in confusion. Ikrit's black lips curled up.

"You didn't have to," He shook his head and placed a paw on her head when she continued to look confused. "You will understand some day, Young One." She raised an eyebrow at him.

"Young One? You can't be that old," She paused, wrinkling her brow, "Can you?"

He chuckled, "I am, at the standard human age, old enough." With that he gestured with his head. "Now, let us try that exercise again. And this time," He inclined his head, "Do it standing on your head."

* * *

Obi-Wan let out a raspy breath when he and his master finally stopped behind a building in the shadows of the overhanging staircases. He turned to look at Amitai with a mixture of amazement and well placed nervousness. There wasn't a time like the present to change his mind about becoming a Jedi. If this was how Jedi lived, he wasn't sure he wanted any part of it.

"Not what you were expecting, was it?"

Obi-Wan turned his head and frowned at his master for stating the obvious. He laughed and clapped the boy on the shoulder. "You're certainly tough for your age, Obi-Wan."

"Was that all this was, a test?" Obi-Wan asked, his temper edging its way through his tone. Amitai shrugged.

"It was, but you'll have tougher ones than this along the way," He raised a finger to point at his pupil, "You've got to understand this first, Kenobi: a Jedi is a servant of the galaxy who puts his life as a last priority when it comes to protecting the weak. Upholding the code is your first concern as a Padawan," He frowned, "And that means controlling your emotions."

Obi-Wan met the frown with an equal look, one of distinct skepticism, "You haven't earned my trust, Master. I won't do a thing you say unless I feel like it." He then pushed himself up and headed back towards the speeder-bike. Amitai's hand dropped to his belt as the familiar whistling of metal sailing through the air bit into his ears with the dust. But before he could rush into action, Obi-Wan jumped into the air and landed on the speeder as it tried to whizz past and knocked its rider off in the process. As a result the officer rolled off to the side and Obi-Wan leapt off the bike right before it crashed into a wall, leaving a dent and a pile of burning metal parts.

The officer sat up with a groan and Obi-Wan walked over, completely calm as he turned his back to the flames emitting from the demolished bike. He crouched down and eyed the officer with what looked to Amitai like pity and a version condescending disgust.

"When you leave here, you'll have an opportunity to change your opinion of those you serve," Obi-Wan said, "Think about that the next time you go after me. I protect you now. You protect those who could become like me." With a curt nod, he stood up and walked away. Amitai watched the boy go over and standing silently by the in-tact speeder-bike.

The officer stared after him and then looked up as Amitai approached. "That kid's a Jedi?"

"Yep, and a strong one at that," He smiled, "He used to be a street kid. Like the ones you pick on." The officer paled at the direct accusation.

"Look, I never even take a second glance at those kids," He waved his hands. Amitai closed down his lightsaber and placed it back in his belt.

"Maybe you should," Then the Jedi Master crossed over to his student and soon the two of them were gone, speeding away on the bike. The officer would never forget the judgmental eyes of the boy training to become a Jedi or the Master who blew up most of the district the officer was assigned to patrol.

As the bike passed building after building, Amitai became steadily more concerned about the embittered expression on Obi-Wan's face.

"Do you want to talk about it?" He said finally. Obi-Wan didn't tear his attention from the streets as they passed them.

"No," He'd already sensed what Amitai was about to say and still decided he hadn't wanted to talk about it. Not that he expected the Jedi Master to understand that or to listen.

"You talked to Kaina about it," The Master said. It wasn't the response Obi-Wan was expecting, but it still didn't change his mind.

"She was nosy," Obi-Wan replied curtly, "And that was all I could do to get her to shut up."

Amitai tried not to get too angry over the comment Obi-Wan had made about Kaina as he replied, "Why am I any different?"

"Because you have your life set," Obi-Wan replied. "Mine, Kaina's and the other kids are still able to be thrown back onto the streets."

"She wouldn't be," Amitai's calm voice said as he sent a soothing feeling to his student through the force, "And neither would you."

Obi-Wan felt, for the first time, his uncertainty coming to the surface, yet his response was quieter and all he managed was a soft, "You don't know that."

Amitai smiled, "But neither do you, Obi-Wan. Trust me, you're not as alone as you think you are."

"I don't trust anyone," Obi-Wan stated vehemently and for the rest of the ride he was silent. Amitai was worried about his student. Obi-Wan was showing more resistance to opening up to his peers and especially to Amitai himself. It wasn't a good practice to have. But one thing was clear: Obi-Wan had a good sense of moral values and knew where his loyalties should lie. It was almost frightening how set in his stance on loyalties the boy was. It was admirable to say the least.

What worried Amitai though, was that those loyalties would have to bend and flex with the changes in Obi-Wan's new life as a Jedi. Especially as a master Amitai knew that alliances were tricky in the Republic and when one day someone was your friend, the next that same being could be stabbing you in the back or was the driving force behind the attack at least.

The speeder whipped around another corner and even though Obi-Wan was staring off into space, Amitai could tell the boy was concentrating on the force and his surroundings. He had a keen sense of who he was and what kind of world he lived in, which was another serious problem. The less attached padawans were to their previous environments, the better chance they had of becoming objective judges in the fight to preserve justice.

Jedi were the pillars that supported and formed the structure of the Republic. It required a sense of duty and ability to adapt to new situations that couldn't happen if a student was too invested in his or her past. Many of the students who were rejected by the council were those who were too old to shed their biases and previous loyalties. Obi-Wan passed, but there was a chance that Yoda was going to ask for reports on the boy's progress.

As of the moment, there was little to report in that regard. Obi-Wan was and remained to be an unreadable subject beyond the few words he'd uttered since arriving at near the officer. It was a start, but it certainly wasn't strong enough for Amitai to defend his student if the subject of Obi-Wan's training ever came up again.

It would, Amitai knew, he felt it through the force. That was part of the reason why he preferred to take Obi-Wan off site rather than let him be frustrated by the presence of other students, especially the innocent younglings.

"Where do you see yourself in ten years, Padawan Kenobi?" Amitai ventured, hoping that he wouldn't get his head ripped off by his pupil. Though he wouldn't put it past Obi-Wan to literally do that, he wasn't taking any chances with that and he wasn't planning to try it anytime in the near future either.

"Is this some kind of test?" Obi-Wan replied, frowning at his master as he turned his head to glance sideways so he could look at Amitai.

"Not everything I ask is a test, Young Kenobi," Amitai said with a laugh and a bemused smile.

"Sure sounds like it is," Obi-Wan said with a suspicious wry smile himself.

"If it makes you happy, then sure, go ahead and think of it as one," Amitai answered and he felt Obi-Wan's genuine confusion through the force. Unlike last time, it wasn't accompanied by surges of anger and frustration.

"I see myself having a better teacher," Obi-Wan quipped, "One that won't get me killed." That wiped the smirk off of Amitai's face. He turned around to give his student a hard stare.

"Hey now, you're not turning on me already, are you?" Amitai asked. Obi-Wan lifted his brow as though he were actually considering the prospect and from his smile, he seemed to like the idea considerably.

"Possibly, if the force tells me to do that, I've got a responsibility to the force, haven't I?" With that he turned his head abruptly a fraction and then frowned, returning it to its original position. "Someone's following us."

Amitai felt it as well. He didn't bother to turn around because he'd already felt the presence. "Don't turn around, we don't want whoever it is to know we're aware that he's following us." Amitai veered off the main road into another side street and slowed up.

Yes, someone was definitely following them. Without any warning to his passenger, the Jedi Master jerked the bike to a halt, sending it crashing into the wall of the nearest building. Obi-Wan tumbled off to the side and lifted his head to see Amitai roll smoothly into a kneeling position while drawing his lightsaber in the same fluid motion.

"Master?" Obi-Wan said, trying to push himself to his feet, but he grimaced and glanced down to notice that his arms and legs were bruised and bleeding from the impact.

"Stay there, Obi-Wan," Amitai said firmly without taking his eyes off his opponent. The figure had landed a narrow silver ship in the center of the street and was now standing straight with the T-Shaped helmet facing Amitai. The figure wore battered armor plates on his chest, knees and wore gauntlets over his gloved hands. The rest of his body was hidden by a slim black undersuit and narrow boots designed for agility. From the utility belt and the cold listless stare, Amitai got the idea.

"What kind of bounty hunter goes after Jedi?" Amitai demanded. The armored figure remained stoically silent and motionless. A gloved hand moved the bounty hunter's belt and Amitai raised his blade, ready to leap into action. The bounty hunter held up a hand.

"I have not come to start a fight, Jedi," The cool filtered voice took Amitai by surprise. But he did not lower his guard.

"Then state your business and be on your way," Amitai said. The bounty hunter nodded and slid a small disc out from the belt at his side. Amitai tensed, wondering if it was an explosive that the bounty hunter was going to throw. He reached out into the force, then sensing no hostility, he lowered his blade.

"This is a message intended for Amitai Veila," The bounty hunter said. "Are you not he?"

Amitai nodded, "Yeah, that's me." He didn't move as the bounty hunter crossed over and held out the disc.

"I was to deliver this with the following instruction: you are out of time," The bounty hunter stated. "That is all." He then turned on his heel and returned to his ship before taking off. The repulsor jets send waves of dusty, dirty air into Amitai's face and he had to squint to see through the clouds.

As soon as the ship was out of sight, he glanced down at the disc in his hand and then back up at the now open sky. If there was something wrong with this picture, the force wasn't telling him what it was.

* * *

Qui Gon turned the corner of the meditation room to find Yoda seated in his usual place, but with his brow furrowed and creased in concentration.

"Master?" Qui-Gon said softly. The green master did not open his eyes.

"A disturbance I have felt," He shook his head, "Like others, it is not." Qui-Gon sat down next to the smaller master and closed his eyes before reaching out himself.

He shook his head, "I do not understand it, Master." If Yoda couldn't understand it, then no one could.

"Time, it is, for a council meeting," Yoda stated and his ears wilted. There was definitely something going on. Whatever it was, Qui-Gon had a bad feeling that it was exactly as Yoda said: not like the other disturbances they'd faced before.

"There's a change coming," He said. Yoda nodded. "But I am not afraid."

"You will be," Yoda said with a nod to his fellow before standing up and he started back down the hall.


	8. Any Other World

**Chapter 7**

**Any Other World**

_A/N- Hey All! Sorry for my extensive absence. As some of you may already know (if you're following my other fic "Fallen Knight") I am in the process of transferring out of my current college (so I can do more writing) so I'm currently unable to do too much posting. But, I haven't forgotten you, My Readers, or about this fic. _

_Anyways, I hope you will all be patient with me as this is a busy time of year for me. If I'm lucky I'll be able to get into the one school I applied to before (and was accepted in my senior year of high school) again so I can get back on track with the rest of my life. We shall see._

_Oh! I just watched Episode Four for the first time in a while and it was awesome. Of course it was a remastered version so Han didn't shoot first (stupid editors). But it was still awesome. =) _

_Well, enough of my babbling, on to the chapter!_

_-Don ^_^ _

* * *

Obi Wan sat on the chair facing the window. After traveling for hours, his master had finally decided that they were going to stay in a small hotel along the way. How or why the people that were chasing them hadn't come by, Obi-Wan would never know.

But while his master slumbered on a few feet away, Obi-Wan sat, knees drawn up to his chest as he gazed out past the curtains and into the night sky. The pale blue lights of the cityscape reflected in his eyes, causing them to have a slightly distant glow, as though he weren't looking at anything at all.

He had given up on trying to sleep years ago. Every so often he would be able to drift, but most of the time he would end up having the same dream he'd been having all his life. It wasn't unpleasant, but it always left him with a twisted knot of confusion in his gut, like he was missing something but couldn't do anything to find out what it was.

The sudden awareness he had of the force made him wonder if his dream had anything to do with the force. If it did, maybe the masters had an explanation for it. But he didn't dare ask about it. He didn't trust the Jedi, especially not Qui Gon Jinn. That man knew too much and as far as Obi-Wan was concerned, if someone knew too much about you, it meant they were up to no good.

A rustling sound turned Obi-Wan's head sharply, but he relaxed when he saw that it was just his master turning over in his sleep. If Jedi were this relaxed during sleep, how is it that most of them survived as long as they did?

Obi-Wan thought back to the strange bounty hunter that had appeared the day before. The message was cryptic and though Amitai had said not to worry about it, Obi-Wan was suspicious. No, it was more than that, he was wary.

If there was an amount of time that had run out, it probably meant that someone was going to try to come after them and that was something Obi-Wan had the right to be concerned about. He glanced back at his sleeping master and then tip toed out the door and into the hallway.

No one was around and with the little force sense he had, Obi-Wan couldn't feel anything amiss. He walked slowly across the hall past the metal automatic doors and cold filtered air from the vents.

This hotel felt less like a warm place to stay and more like a prison. Obi-Wan restrained the urge to laugh at the comparison. It didn't seem funny in the slightest that he'd walked from one helpless situation into another. No matter where he turned, the people and places looked the same. They all looked at him the same way and never thought twice about what they were telling him. Just because they were adults or even just people living in "normal" society, they assumed they could know everything there was to know about Obi-Wan and his life.

It was sheer arrogance that drove people to think like that. He finally reached the landing and paused between the lift and the deserted stairwell. He shrugged and went to the stairs, he wasn't in any hurry to get anywhere anyways.

At the foot of the stairs he stopped as voices filtered into the stairwell. He stopped just behind the open doorway.

"Are you sure you haven't seen him?"

"I'm telling you, I don't know anyone with that appearance."

"You'd better hope you don't, he's in deep trouble with the next district. If he's here, you're harboring a criminal."

"Criminal? He's a Jedi."

Obi-Wan froze and pressed his back to the wall. There was silence in the room for a moment. "So you do know him. He's here too."

"I never said that," The person paused, "What do you want with a Jedi anyways. He's the reason you're alive at all."

"Please, the Jedi are all nosy and useless when they do get things done. We'd all be better off without them."

Obi-Wan felt himself tense at those words. He'd thought them himself not too long ago. But now that he was training to be one, it suddenly stung him how bitter they were. Was that how he sounded too?

"Have it your way," The other said. "But I'm not selling out a Jedi." There was a pause and then a grunt followed by a thud. Obi-Wan was at the doorway then. On the ground was a man dressed in the hotel's uniform and standing over him with blood stained knuckles was a thick man with heavy set eyes and a scarred face. He had short cropped chestnut colored hair and dark eyes.

"Sorry you had to see that, Kid," The scarred man said, standing up straight once more. "But business is business."

"And what, pray tell, is that business?" Obi-Wan felt a firm hand on his shoulder. He turned to find Amitai standing there.

"Well, I won't have to look for you now," The scarred man said. "Are you going to come quietly, or will I have to call in the others?"

"Oh, don't call them on my account," Amitai said coolly, "I'm sure you'll do just fine." With that he pulled back his robe and drew his lightsaber.

"Amitai, I'm warning you," The scarred man said slowly, "I won't hesitate to use brute force this time."

"Like I said," Amitai replied curtly, "Don't hesitate on my account." He thumbed the blade to life and in a few short, swift strides he was next to the scarred man, who stepped backwards a few paces before he too drew a metal cylinder from his belt and thumbed it to life. Amitai struck again, but was met by a blue blade.

"Your student shouldn't be here to see you fall," The scarred man said. Amitai scowled and pressed harder with his blade, causing it to crackle and spark.

"Don't underestimate your opponent, Koral," Amitai chided and twisted around to slash the scarred man's arm. He stepped back and then raised his blade once more. Koral paused then and lowered his blade.

"You know I don't want to do this, Amitai," He regarded Amitai for a second. "Please, just surrender."

"If you know me at all," Amitai said flatly, "You'd know that I wouldn't surrender my right to be a Jedi."

"That isn't your decision to make, Veila," Koral and Amitai turned to see the man behind them. It was an bronze armored figure with a helmet and a thin lined visor that ran across it. "Captain Renders, I'd appreciate it if you followed through with your mission without offering options that aren't available."

Koral lowered his gaze to the floor. "I'm sorry, Sir."

"Be sure that it doesn't happen again," The armored figure said and walked past Koral. "Now, Veila, we both know you want to mend your ways, but it doesn't work like this. You don't just suddenly become the most noble of soldiers from being the lowest of the low. Not everyone gets a second chance and you don't have that privilege."

Amitai scowled, "So what are you going to do, ask the Jedi Council to strip me of my title as a Jedi Master?"

The armored man shook his head, "I would do no such thing. I merely want you to earn your place like the rest of us. And that means paying debts."

Amitai squared his shoulders, "So you want me to come with you so I can spend the rest of my life working to pay you back? Forget it."

"I'm not giving you a choice, Amitai," The man's hand snapped to his belt, drew the blaster from its holster and fired two quick shots at the hotel man who was trying to stand up and then turned his blaster to the side.

"No, Obi-Wan!" The blasts struck Obi-Wan before he could register what was happening. His body then sunk to the floor, his eyes out of focus. Amitai was at his student's side in seconds. "Hang on, Obi." He turned his eyes up at the armored figure.

"You're a sadistic pig, Jorres," Amitai spat as he struggled to pull off his robe. He then pressed it against Obi-Wan's bleeding chest and met Koral's eyes. The man wasn't willing to meet them. From what Amitai could sense through the force, the man wasn't confident in his loyalties, nor was he entirely solid on his decisions.

"I made a mistake once, letting myself believe the life of a bounty hunter was right," Amitai said slowly, "But I wanted to fix it by becoming something better. Because I had force potential I could at least move forward."

"You're idealistic at best," Jorres replied. "Your student is bleeding and you're talking about fixing your past. What will the Jedi council say about that?" Amitai's eyes hardened even further.

"Yes, they won't be too keen to let you continue to be a Master then, will they?" Jorres smirked. "You'll be wanting to return soon enough, Amitai." The man turned around and walked out the door. Koral started after Jorres, but Amitai's voice caught him at the door.

"You can change your path, Koral. There's always time," Amitai said. Koral's eyes turned and they were filled with a regretful sense of denial.

"No, my path was chosen long ago," He smiled. "May the force be with you, Amitai." As soon as the door closed, Amitai lowered Obi-Wan to the ground.

"Stay with me, Obi," He said. The boy's eyes stared blearily back up at his master.

"They'll give me to someone new," Obi-Wan said. Amitai shook his head.

"No, I won't let them."

"They will, I feel it," Obi-Wan replied with a weak smile. "And I was beginning to think you were actually a decent teacher." Amitai smiled back and gave Obi-Wan's hand a squeeze.

"Cheeky Kid, I am a good teacher," Amitai turned as the door opened again. In walked a train of robed figures.

"Master Amitai Veila, the council has summoned you," Two of the robed figures filed past Amitai with a stretcher and gently lifted Obi-Wan onto it and walked away. Amitai frowned and then nodded. After all this was over, he was going to find a way to get back at Jorres and to bring Koral back to the right side.

**A/N- For those of you who also followed "Namesake" and now follow my "Heritage" series, you'll find more history of families in here in the coming chapters. Stay tuned! =) Thanks for reading. **


	9. Someday Never Comes

**Chapter 8**

**Someday Never Comes **

_A/N- UPDATE! =P Okay, okay, it's not that exciting, but what the heck, throw a party if you want to. _

_I apologize for the prolonged delay. I had a lot things going on in the past few months and I'm now home for the summer so I'm hoping that I'll be able to post more. I'll definitely be posting more over the next few days, so keep your eyes open!_

_-Don ^_^_

* * *

"Allowed your student to be hurt, you have." Amitai grimaced as Yoda's round eyes bore into him. He'd never met someone so small, yet so intimidating or aggressive as the Grand Master. That is, until he'd met Obi-Wan, but even he paled in comparison to Yoda's level of intimidation when he put his mind to it.

"I was distracted, Master," Amitai said. "I was-"

"Shouldn't your first concern be for your student?" Another one of the masters questioned. "He is not expected to be responsible for himself, you, however, are."

Yoda inhaled deeply, closing his eyes and his ears sagged, "A mistake it was to allow you to take on a student at this time."

"Master, I can handle it-"

"Your decision, it is not!" Yoda interjected sharply, causing the entire council to turn to look at the Grand Jedi Master. It was rare that Yoda's voice ever reached such a high octave or became so angry. "Your student, Obi-Wan should not be."

"Perhaps we should give him another chance?" Ikrit offered from his perch in the far end of the room. All eyes turned to look at the tiny master.

"A reason, you have?" Yoda asked. Ikrit flicked his tail reflectively.

"There is reason enough in his voice. I feel he is concerned for his student," Ikrit said, looking over at Amitai, who was continually shooting furtive glances at the door. Yoda sighed once more.

"This I too feel. But ready for a pupil, Amitai is not," Yoda looked over at Amitai with regret in his eyes. "A new master appointed, there will be and return to your training, you will." The rest of the council members nodded their silent assent, except for Ikrit, who regarded Amitai's now barely concealed anger at the decision.

"Yes, Master," Amitai said, bowing and he turned and was out the door in seconds. Ikrit turned his eyes to face Yoda.

"I think you were harsh on him, Master," Ikrit said plainly. "Was I not also just as reckless?"

Yoda shook his head, "Reckless you were. But a master you were ready to be." Ikrit frowned at this, but didn't say anything more. It didn't make that much difference to him if a student was reckless or a little unorthodox, but Yoda was far too harsh. Ikrit knew as one of Yoda's many students over the years that being a master was different for everyone and the fact of the matter was that Ikrit himself had almost gotten his first student killed.

The real difference was that Ikrit's previous student had run away before Ikrit could fix his mistakes or have Yoda exact the same judgment on Ikrit as he had on Amitai. The system of the Jedi Order was flawed and Ikrit sensed many foreseeable problems with it. Not only from the way they dealt with their masters, but in the limited types of lives the Jedi themselves were allowed to live.

"I respectfully disagree with you, Master Yoda," Ikrit said, "But as it is not my decision, I will return to my own student." Yoda inclined his head and Ikrit leapt to the floor and walked out. There were few masters who would openly state that they disagreed with Yoda, Windu and Ikrit were two of them, and the majority of the masters and other Jedi who did express disapproval were usually former students of Yoda's.

"Far too opinionated, Master Ikrit is," Yoda said.

"Or he is wiser than all of us," Yoda turned to the speaker, The green master's ears rotated thoughtfully but a frown still lingered on his features at the man. It was unusual for this particular member to speak out, if at all. He was slightly older than Windu and had fierce almost night blue eyes that had silver rims lining them. His hair was a reddish brown, almost as though someone had torn strips of bark off a tree and painted red streaks on them. A deep scar ran from his forehead down to his neck and it was only obscured by the goggles that sat atop his head, flattening his bangs against his dark auburn colored skin.

"Something to say, have you, Jedi Knight Cai?" Yoda's knowledge that Cai, like the only two known crossbreeds of the Miraluka and humans, was not the most compassionate of the Jedi, made any unbiased thoughts the Grand Jedi Master would have had improbable. Yoda also suspected another species in the mix, but couldn't find any way to trace the origins of the young Jedi. Yet Cai had proven through his training and his loyalty that he was a far better candidate for a master than Amitai or even K'tar so Yoda had granted the Jedi Knight the opportunity to sit in on a meeting to give his input.

The man nodded, "If a master always protects a student, the student will learn nothing." Yoda didn't even need to turn to look at the other masters to know they were unnerved by this comment. But the green master turned to look at Windu, whose expression was stony and he had folded his arms across his chest in defiance. The boy had much to learn about how to handle his aggressiveness. _Too quick to action is he, _Yoda thought. _Hear his own thoughts he does not. _

"A fair point, Jedi Knight Cai," K'tar said with an incline of his head. "But you are not aware of the dangers in letting a student roam free."

Cai's eyes flicked coolly over to the bothan, "I assure you, Master K'tar," Cai said, "I do not intend to let my student fall prey to the dark side. Contrary to popular belief, not all of my kind are sith."

A murmur passed through the council and Yoda had to thump his cane on the floor to gain order once more. "Sith in this council, there are not," He said with a scowl, "And a valid point Jedi Knight Cai does make. How, propose Jedi Knight Cai a padawan learn?"

Cai relaxed a little to see that Yoda was giving him a chance to speak his piece. "The way Master Veila was teaching wasn't right but it wasn't wrong either. Padawans need to go out and learn on the job. Masters will need to guide them, but not baby them. The last thing a padawan needs is a master who doesn't believe in him or her."

Yoda smiled, his ears turning upwards. The other masters nodded and even K'tar and Windu, who were clearly in disagreement, had wilted somewhat in their opposition. "A solution, Jedi Knight Cai has proposed. A second chance for Master Veila perhaps?" Yoda turned to the young Jedi Knight expectantly. Cai felt somewhat nervous under the Grand Jedi Master's gaze. This was clearly a test of Cai's ability to judge well.

"Master Veila clearly cares about his padawan, but I don't know if that is enough to determine if there is more going on than he is letting on," Cai replied. "If there is, it is not really a matter of whether or not we trust Master Veila." Yoda nodded emphatically, placing both hands on his cane.

"Correct, Jedi Knight Cai is. A matter of trust in Master Veila's teaching abilities this is not. Honest with us, he has not been. Further evaluate him, we will." Yoda said and then turned to face the rest of the council. "Thank you Jedi Knight Cai." The younger Jedi took that as his dismissal and bowed before exiting the council chamber.

His mind wasn't on the council anymore. It was on the young boy that had been injured in Master Veila's care. Clearly the boy was made of sterner stuff than anyone in the entire council had banked on. Otherwise the meeting would have concluded in the immediate expulsion of Amitai Veila from the order altogether. The death of a padawan was unforgivable as Cai's species' heritage dictated from two major examples and the deliberate killing of padawans was even more so. Cai himself didn't agree with the massacre, though he did believe firmly that if a padawan couldn't hold his own against the galaxy, there was no point in the training. A student had to have strength that came from without. Obi-Wan clearly had that.

Twisting his lips upward into a complacent smile, the Jedi Knight continued down the hall. In time the council would understand how crucial firm actions were and how outdated talking about such things was.

* * *

"I do not think it is a good idea to promote someone like Cai to Jedi Master," K'tar said and Windu nodded in agreement.

"What objections, have you?" Yoda asked. Windu waved his hand.

"It's not about the objections, Master Yoda. Cai is clearly an aggressive Jedi. This is not the time to place such people in charge of our students."

"We are about to lose Veila, so we need someone who has a good head on his shoulders, who better than Cai? He just showed that he knows what he's talking about," Another member pointed out. Yoda rubbed his chin.

"Wise beyond his years, Cai is. Sure of his intentions, I am not. But faith in him, I have," Yoda turned to look at K'tar, who was fuming, his fur rippling.

"Perhaps placing him in charge of Padawan Kenobi will prove his abilities," Ikrit said. The others looked at the tiny Jedi Master dubiously but most nodded slowly as they saw his line of thought.

"If better at this method of teaching Cai is, then prove it in this he will."

"If not?" K'tar pressed. "He is as tricky as Veila." Yoda frowned.

"Trust in your allies you must, Master K'tar. Or into enemies you will turn them," Yoda warned and then said, "To a vote we will put it."

As the last of the council members filed out, Ikrit remained behind. Yoda's eyes rested on his former student and he gestured with his head to the hallway. The two walked down it, keeping an even pace with one another.

"Thoughts on our decision, you have," Yoda stated. Ikrit smiled, his black lips revealing his fang-like teeth.

"I know my own student well enough to fill several records, Master," Ikrit replied slowly, "But it seems our students may know us better than we do." Yoda's brow went up as curiosity crept into his mind.

"Speaking as a student, are you?" The green master's voice was more amused than anything.

"We are always speaking as learners. Otherwise we assume we know things that we truly can only guess at." Yoda inhaled, closing his eyes and causing his ears to flop up and then down. Ikrit had from the beginning of his training been extremely perceptive and wise beyond his years. It was a mistake in Yoda's mind to ignore the furry master's wisdom when it was true in the force and in Yoda's own opinion. Yet, he knew that there were lines that masters couldn't leave to be crossed when it came to students.

"A master Cai will be," He said, "Wary of his own actions he is."

"Too wary," Ikrit put in, frowning,

Yoda nodded. "Watch him, I will. See to your student, you will." Ikrit nodded, sensing the dismissal in his former master's demeanor as well as through the force. He started away, leaving Yoda standing there meditatively, tiny hands clasped behind his robed back.

If there was anything Ikrit had learned from Yoda it was that he hated assuming things before he saw things with his own eyes. Yet, that very mentality was slowly slipping away. Something was troubling Yoda and that fact in itself could never mean anything good.

* * *

Kaina could barely contain her impatience as she stood outside of the doors to the med center. They had refused to allow her in, despite what she'd told them about her concern for one of the patients. The healers were as infuriating as the masters when they wanted to be. It was all about patience and not fearing the worst. How was it possible to not fear those things? Her years as a padawan hadn't erased the most innate human emotions and she wanted to keep it that way, Jedi or not.

"I thought I might find you here," She whirled to find Ikrit behind her, his tail flicking reflectively. How long had he been standing there? "Worried about young Kenobi, are we?" Kaina thought for a moment about lying and then clamped her mouth shut, nodding mutely. Ikrit smiled, "I believe we can borrow a few minutes of his time, don't you think?" His eyes rested on one of the healers, who had just come through the doors. For a moment it looked as though he was going to say no and then he nodded, holding open the door.

Kaina stepped forward and then stopped when she noticed Ikrit wasn't following her, "Go on," he said, "I shall be here when you return." She smiled gratefully to her master and then entered the hall. After walking for a few minutes she found herself at the door marked "Kenobi."

The healer pushed the door open from her blind spot, "Five minutes." He said and then once she was inside let the door shut with a click.

"What are you doing here?" Her attention snapped to the boy in an all too big hospital bed. His eyes bore into her without any question of where his anger should be directed. "Come to mock me, have you?"

"Mock you?" Kaina asked, her own eyes narrowing, "I came to see if you were okay. But if that's your idea of mocking, then suit yourself."

Obi-Wan's eyes continued to burn into her, but they were now somewhat subdued by a small amount of curiosity and confusion, "Why?"

Kaina frowned, shaking her head. She hadn't thought about that. Why did she care so much about this cold and embittered boy from the streets? He was the perfect candidate for the dark side with the way he lashed out at everyone who dared to get close to him, yet she wanted to stay close to him rather than stay far away.

"Honestly? I haven't the faintest clue why," She sighed. Obi-Wan's mouth then twitched into a half smile.

"That makes two of us." Her eyes took in the challenging eyes and half smile, any reservations she had disappearing for the moment. Obi-Wan was the true meaning of an enigma. Everything he did or said was a mystery and no matter what changes she saw, they were always a surprise. She doubted she could figure him out unless he let her and right now he seemed complacent with keeping everyone else in the dark.

She could only hope he wouldn't keep it that way.


	10. A Justified Misunderstanding

**Chapter 9**

**A Justified Misunderstanding**

_A/N- I apologize for my extended absence and lack of posting. This term at college has been rough and emotionally trying so I had a hard time writing for my fan fiction. I am now working on updating all my fics so I hope you will be patient with me while I catch up and get coordinated with writing again. _

_For the posting schedule please refer to my profile page. _

_Best,_

_-Don ^_^_

* * *

Amitai was thoroughly disgruntled to find that the council had reinstated him as Obi-Wan's master but had decided to force him to remain on planet to train his student.

He was moping around as he watched Obi-Wan spar against Kaina and when it became clear to both younger Jedi that the master was going to continue to be in a moody tantrum mode, they came over and Obi-Wan whacked his master in the leg.

"Ow!" Amitai glared at his student.

"Are you trying to teach me how to be a juvenile delinquent, because I think I've already got that covered."

Kaina folded her arms across her chest, "Yeah, and you being pissed at Master Yoda is only going to make him want to take more freedoms away from you."

Amitia looked surly and then lifted an eyebrow, "How is it that you two seem to be handling this so well?"

Obi-Wan shrugged, "I gave up trying to think about what can be and focus on working with what is."

Kaina blinked and threw a confused look in Obi-Wan's direction. "What Ben means is that you're stuck here and you need to work with that."

Obi-Wan glanced at her, "That is what I said."

Amitai sighed and then nodded. "I am the one who should be teaching you that. It seems I made a mistake." He smiled and stood up from the bench, ruffling Obi-Wan's hair. The boy squirmed in protest and threw a misjudged kick at his master. Amitai chuckled and Obi-Wan began to throw punches, though they were half hearted and he eventually gave in to frustrated smiles.

Kaina watched this with wonder. She knew somehow that Obi-Wan's teacher was meant to be Amitai, Master and Student, whether or not the council could see it for themselves. They returned to the Temple and after sharing a meal, they parted to their respective training sessions.

* * *

Amitai watched Obi-Wan carefully. His pupil was hard headed and opinionated, but he was also extremely vulnerable. There was a fear deeply imbedded in the young boy's very being and Amitai himself was concerned about where that fear would lead him. He knew that the Council was watching his actions far more cautiously now and that he was close to what could be called "Probationary Master" status with Obi-Wan. The favored master to take his place was, much to Amitai's surprise, Jedi Cai. He mulled this over many times upon hearing the news. From his perspective Cai was as deceptive as anyone came. Amitai knew his actions were questionable and he didn't hide his opinions. Cai was elusive. If he let it, madness would swarm Amitai's mind in his attempts to figure out what Cai's true agenda was.

Amitai rubbed his chin, "Now try again." He could feel Obi-Wan's frustration as he swung his lightsaber, blindly attempting to hit the floating training orb. "You're still trying to use your eyes, Obi-Wan," Amitai said. "They will deceive you. Use your feelings and the force will guide you from there."

Obi-Wan heaved a sigh and felt around his mind for his emotions. He felt it then, a small feeling at the edges of his mind, a presence that wasn't his own, and his arms moved with him and he heard a strange zapping noise and then a _thunk. _

"Well done!" Amitai said. Obi-Wan lifted his visor to see Amitai smiling at him. "Look." Obi-Wan looked down at the orb. It was blackened and little sparks were emitting from the exposed wiring protruding from the long slash mark.

Obi-Wan stared at it in surprise. He'd actually managed to hit the orb and cut through it. The young boy looked up at Amitai, who smiled back and ruffled Obi-Wan's hair. "You'll make a Jedi yet, My Young Padawan."

Obi-Wan wondered if that meant he could actually use his eyes when he trained but refrained from mentioning as much out loud. "Your feelings are always one with the force, Obi-Wan." Amitai said as they put away the training equipment. "Trust in them and they will not betray you."

Obi-Wan tilted his head to the side in curiosity, "All of them?"

Amitai closed his eyes for a moment and then shook his head, "No, not all. Anger, fear, and aggression are emotions of the dark side." Obi-Wan's eyes widened at this revelation. Through his eyes he had only seen the Jedi as aggressive enforcers of a moral code that didn't take those less fortunate into account. He had been a victim of abuse from the Republic soldiers and the Jedi never seemed to take enough action against them. At least, not until Obi-Wan had met Qui Gon Jinn. The long haired man had taken action and thus saved Obi-Wan from a far worse unknown fate at the hands of the soldiers. What was more, Qui Gon seemed to be calm in his actions, no signs of anger, aggression or fear.

Or if he felt those emotions, he didn't betray them on his features. "If you can't use all your emotions, how can you tell if you're feeling all of the force?"

Amitai paused for a moment as he thought about his response. Then he replied, "What do you feel right now, Obi-Wan?" The boy focused on his emotions once more and sensed something at the edges of his consciousness. It was a steady, sturdy, and guarded presence.

"You're here," He said slowly as he sorted out his feelings. "And you are guarded."

Amitai nodded, "The force does not flow when it is hindered by walls and clogged with too many negative emotions."

"Why?" Obi-Wan asked. Amitai sighed. The boy was far more manageable when he shut people out instead of the open sponge looking to soak up information. But he could feel a distinct difference in the boy he'd met fresh off the streets and the young student before him. Obi-Wan wanted to learn. It was a huge step in the right direction.

"Jedi are trained to have control over their emotions so they might help others. You must have a clear view of your own heart in order to keep it calm and compassionate, ready to aid others," Amitai explained. "When your emotions are negative you will have difficulty finding the compassion for others because your sense of force flow is filled with barriers. Our ability to use the force depends on having an open passageway for the flow of positive emotions."

Obi-Wan wasn't exactly sure if this meant he was currently unable to use much of the force because he felt so much anger towards the soldiers who had hurt him, or if he simply wasn't cut out to be a Jedi. He scrutinized his master.

"Master, do you feel angry?"

Amitai could feel the boy's doubts through the force and knew he had to consider his answer carefully. "We all feel angry sometimes, Obi-Wan. But it is how we approach that anger that is important."

Obi-Wan nodded, too deeply engrossed in his own thoughts to notice that Amitai had pulled a a disc out of his robes and was frowning. He remembered the words of the bounty hunter: "You're out of time." Amitai sighed, slipping the disc back into his robes, as Obi-Wan glanced in his direction, just narrowly missing seeing the disc.

"Let us return to the temple, Padawan Kenobi," He said quietly and led the way. Amitai could just barely feel the disc digging into his skin through his clothes. There was no possible way to ignore the blatant message. He had just narrowly escaped a fatal judgment from the Council, but here he was, contemplating the pain that snaked and slithered its way from his chest to his mind.

It had bitten him. Fangs had ripped through his clothes and left him breathing hard in terror as he had seen the Jedi Council looking upon him with shameful eyes. It was almost a preemptive strike, a taste of what was to come. Amitai was not truly one to test the will of the force, to tempt the darkness to attack him, but he had already waded into this pool up past his waist. He was soaked. His eyes found Obi-Wan as they entered the temple, robed Jedi nodding to Amitai as he walked past and he responding in kind.

Not for a long time did he think to meet their eyes. It was rare that one could stare down another Jedi deeply enough to see their true visions, to see what their eyes would betray, falter, or burn into your thoughts. Eyes were the windows of a person's soul and the eyes of a Jedi told all.

Obi-Wan's eyes met with Amitai's and confusion lit the boy's features, though he didn't know why. "Go to your room, Obi-Wan, meditate, and I will see you tomorrow." There was no question, no hesitation, and the ripple of his master's robe as he turned the corner left Obi-Wan with no more answers than to do as he was bidden.

He sat, his legs out in front of him as he tried to concentrate on the force like he had during the training session. But he found only staleness, a discomforting silence, and he couldn't sense his master like he had before.

He sighed and leaned back on his bed. There was no point in meditating when he couldn't sense the force very clearly. His eyes slid shut and then snapped back open upon feeling a shiver flow through his mind.

_Fear._ He'd felt Amitai's fear.

His feet hit the floor before he could think twice about what he was doing. He was out the door of his room and pushing his legs to run faster as the fear he felt grew larger. He skidded to a stop as he saw his master boarding a ship. Obi-Wan quietly waited until his master had disappeared up the ramp before following him. He slunk down in the shadows behind the cockpit, stealing fleeting glances over at his master. The older Jedi punched coordinates into the ship and then the ramp closed. The clang resounded in Obi-Wan's mind.

It seemed like hours before the ship arrived at its destination and Obi-Wan could feel himself falling asleep, his head heavy and jerking up to force himself awake every few minutes. He watched as Amitai made his way down the ramp and silently followed once more. Amitai looked around the area surrounding the ship. They were in an open space just feet from a dark line of buildings, all unknown to Obi-Wan. He had never been in this part of Coruscant.

Amitai seemed to glide in his robes into one of the buildings and Obi-Wan swiftly fell in behind, catching the door and slipping inside. All around were machines, strange chemicals filled the air and stung Obi-Wan's nostrils.

"You are here," Obi-Wan looked around the pile of crates he hid behind. Amitai was talking to a bounty hunter.

"I don't think this is right," Amitai was saying. Obi-Wan frowned.

"You agreed to this a long time ago," The bounty hunter replied. "Right doesn't matter." Amitai's body tensed and Obi-Wan could feel the fear pouring from his master. The building was eerily quiet for a moment and then he could hear clanging and yelling.

"Quiet!" Obi-Wan heard the thump and groan, someone had been punched and from the occasional scratching and rustling on the floor they were also being dragged. He bit his lip.

"Please…" Obi-Wan's mind then screamed at him and he winced. He could sense some of the pain of the person being dragged. The ground reverberated with the sounds of the body hitting the ground. Obi-Wan chanced turning his head around the edge of the crate, the corner digging into his cheek.

On the ground was a young woman. She was looking up at Amitai, who held his already ignited lightsaber just inches above her head. "You told them!" He growled. The bounty hunter remained silent.

"I didn't mean to…" Her lip quivered and her off kilter gaze caught sight of Obi-Wan in her peripheral vision. She didn't linger but she met his eyes, sadness filling them. Obi-Wan felt a sharp pang in his mind.

"But you did tell them," Amitai continued. She lowered her eyes to the floor. His body seemed rigid with cold determination but his eyes held pain. They were filled with tears. "Why couldn't you just let it alone?"

She looked up at him. "The same reason you wanted to help him," Her head jerked over to the bounty hunter. "I thought it was the right thing to do."

"Enough," The bounty hunter barked. His eyes rested on Amitai. The blade made a small arc and then the body slumped to the floor. Obi-Wan let out a small wail of surprise, caught himself and then realized it was too late. The bounty hunter looked up and he raised his blaster.

"You had a rat, Veila," The bounty hunter spat and fired. Obi-Wan couldn't move fast enough before the blast burned through his flesh and sent him staggering and stumbling into the crates, knocking them to the ground on top of him.

"Obi-Wan!" Amitai cried.

**TBC… **


End file.
